This thread provides various sets of global maritime boundaries.

The left-hand picture shows how atlases and other sources often portray oceanic territories. The rectilinear separators exhibit simplicity, but they have no legal validity. The right-hand picture shows the legal boundaries over which nations have various degrees of sovereignty. This BBS thread defines the sources of these legal claims and provides downloadable files for Google Earth.

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Exclusive Economic Zones UPDATED

EEZ file facilities

EEZ name labels UPDATED

EEZ mapping accuracy

Maritime boundaries for Inland Seas UPDATED

Analysis of Google built-in maritime boundaries UPDATED

Filesize = 585 KB - This file is only for Google Earth, not Google Maps



This is a concept in international law defined by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS). You can see which countries own which islands and which control which oceanic areas.

Several national maritime boundaries are significant for coastal (littoral) or archipelagic nations:

Territorial Sea up to 12 nautical miles (nm) from the coastal baselines, with the same sovereignty as on the land part of the country.
1 nautical mile = 1.15 statute miles = 1.852 kilometers

Contiguous Zone up to 24 nm from the coast, permits enforcement of national resourece-related laws.

Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) up to 200 nm from the coast, provides exploration and exploitation of water and subterranean resources (e.g., fishing, oil, etc.). Where distances between adjacent EEZs are less than 200 nm, multilateral treaties are negotiated among the affected nations. See Wikipedia for more details. Some nations only claim an Exclusive Fishing Zone.

Continental Shelf a further extension up to 350 nm from the coast.

See a listing of the maritime claims by country in the USA CIA Factbook

These KML files are derived from the EEZ boundary data provided by the Vlaams Instituut voor de Zee (VLIZ, Flanders Marine Institute) of Oostende, Belgium. Users can access that data on their Web site to obtain GML and SHP files. The data was converted to Google Earth KML by Alphabet Systems LLC, USA.

Version 2: Added Timor-Leste (East Timor) and some joint and disputed areas. Combined and separated a few EEZs to achieve the following simple rule: Adjoining EEZs which have the same parent nation are combined into single EEZs. Some further separations exist for UK and French dependencies in the VLIZ database.

Version 3: Added a large number of jont and disputed areas, and corrected the Jarvis Island boundary. This file now also includes the Caspian and Aral inland seas which Google Earth does not provide -- although they are not covered by the UN treaty, they are defined by the same median principles and bilateral treaties. We no longer include the colored area which were of little user interest and excessive file size.

Some of the improvements of later versions are not yet incorporated into the VLIZ data bases.

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The data is provided "as is", and no warranty express, implied or otherwise is offered as to the data's accuracy. The developers do not imply any opinion concerning the legal status of any country, territory or area, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The data can be used for educational, scientific or research purposes but should not be used for legal, commercial/economical (exploration of natural resources), or navigational purposes.

Anyone can download this data, but it is for the sole use of the individual downloading the data. The geodata may not be redistributed without the permission of the Flanders Marine Institute and Alphabet Systems. The geodata may not be used in a Value-Added Software Application (like Web services). Redistribution rights are granted for hard-copy renditions or static, electronic map images (e.g. jpeg, gif, etc.) that are plotted, printed or publicly displayed. All other rights are reserved.

This is great. Very interesting.

The Global Multilingual Placenames have been upgraded to include the maritime labels.

Users have inquired about the accuracy of the boundary representations.

All EEZ boundaries are calculated to at least six decimal digits of a degree. That is equivalent to 4.4 inches (or 11.2 centimeters) at the equator, which is much greater than other Google Earth border accuracy.

Where bilateral or multilateral treaties were ratified, the accuracy is often greater. For example, consider the maritime boundary between Singapore and Malaysia, in yellow as it appears in Google Earth (shown under the "fair use" copyright provisions when used for critical purposes). Compare that with the boundary shown in green as it is provided in the EEZ files.



The 72 points in the EEZ boundary were taken from the bilateral treaty W1 - W25 and E1 - E47.



Through a programmatic process, they were individually calculated to at least six decimal digits of a degree.



Treaty data source: R. Haller-Trost, The Contested Maritime and Territorial Boundaries of Malaysia:An International Law Perspective, from the International Boundary Studies Series, Springer, 1998, p. 491.

Where not shown in Google Earth, we provide maritime boundaires for inland seas.

The Caspian Sea is only connected to the oceans via a freshwater canal, so it is not considered to be a part of the UN's Law of the Sea. Also, its distances are not large enough to be settled using the 200 nautical mile rules. The same considerations apply to the Aral Sea.

However, their international boundaries are being settled in a similar way, through bilateral treaties. This process is discussed in Wikipedia.

The borders are provided in styles matching the UN's global maritime boundaries. They are included in the above posting,
Exclusive Economic Zones. The names of the surrounding countries are provided in the Global Multilingual Placenames.



Caspian boundary source: Ariel Cohen, Iran's Claim Over Caspian Sea Resources Threaten Energy Security, Heritage Foundation, 5 September 2002

Aral boundary source: Vozrozhdeniye Island, Renaissance - Rebirth Island, GlobalSecurity.org

In the following illustrations, the Global Maritime Boundaires are all shown in GREEN for comparison purposes.
Version 2 reflects YNakamura's correction.

Bay of Fundy: The Google border extends into a disputed area as detailed in THIS POSTING which carefully documents all Canadian-USA disputes.

Bering Straits: The Google boundary between Russia and the USA does not agree with the agreement between USA & USSR of 1 June 1990 as posted on the United Nations Web site. It notes that both parties agree to abide by it from that date. The agreement specifies a middle part of the boundary which is beyond 200 nm from both states, which is not shown in the Global Maritime Boundaries. The two states may agree to limit each other's activities in that area, but the area is regarded as the high seas, open to all, from an international perspective.

Celebes Sea: Google boundaries do not take into account the ICJ Judgment of 17 December 2002 awarding the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan to Malaysia

Hawar Islands: Google boundaries do not accurately reflect the ICJ Judgment of 16 March 2001 in this sensitive area.

Indonesia: Google displays an incorrect 1st administrative level maritime boundary

Jahore Strait: This is an area of great sensitivity to the neighboring states, discussed in detail in THIS POSTING

La P�rouse Strait and Southern Kurile Islands: Google adequetely depicts Japan's agreements and disputes with Russia. See Wikipedia on Kurile Islands.

Kerch Strait: Google boundaries do not accurately reflect the sensitivity of this area, especially near Tuzla Island. See Wikipedia

Oresund: Google adequetely depicts the northern end of this area, but does not cover the more complex southern extent. See Wikipedia

Solomon Sea: While Google does not approximate the boundaries well, no islands appear to be incoreectly assigned.

Change 'Korea Strait' to 'La Perouse Strait'. See Wikipedia

Please, include or update that layer of global maritime boundaries with the Venezuela/Colombia maritime boundary dispute over Gulf of Venezuela.



http://www.answers.com/topic/venezuela-gulf-of